The short answer.
If you open design software and work in it, you want a ready-to-work cloud virtual workstation. If you run code, containers or AI training from a terminal, you want a bare GPU server. Coreframe sells only the first: a full Windows desktop with a dedicated NVIDIA RTX GPU (16 vCPU, 64 to 128 GB of RAM and 16 to 48 GB of VRAM), ready in four clicks, billed per minute, with all infrastructure and data in India.
Side by side.
| Ready-to-work workstation | Bare GPU server | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A full Windows desktop with a dedicated NVIDIA RTX GPU, streamed to your own PC through the Coreframe Connect app | A server or virtual machine with a GPU attached, usually running Linux, reached over SSH or a web notebook |
| Operating system | Windows, set up and maintained for you | Usually a Linux image you pick; anything else you set up yourself |
| Drivers | Graphics drivers installed, with DirectX and OpenGL for design applications | Compute drivers are often included; a desktop and a remote-display stack usually are not |
| Software | Blender, D5 Render, Twinmotion, Unreal Engine, FreeCAD and more preinstalled; Lumion, Enscape, V-Ray, Revit, AutoCAD, SketchUp Pro and Rhino on your own licence | Only what is in the base image; you install and license everything else |
| Your files | Uploads stay on your project drive and appear on every workstation; an optional persistent workstation keeps your own Windows disk | Kept on the server's disk or a storage volume you manage, often billed separately |
| Billing | Per minute from when you connect, from a prepaid wallet in US dollars; preparing the workstation is free | Usually by the hour or second while the server runs, plus storage, depending on the provider |
| Setup time | Four clicks in the app, then the desktop appears in about two minutes | Minutes to boot, then however long it takes you to install drivers, a remote desktop and your applications |
| Who it suits | Architects, interior designers, 3D visualisers, motion designers, students and small design firms | AI and machine-learning engineers, developers, and anyone running headless or scripted jobs |
Where a bare GPU server wins.
A bare server is the right tool when nobody needs to see a screen. Training or fine-tuning a model, serving inference, running Docker containers or a scripted batch job all work best on a Linux machine you control from a terminal, with root access and the image of your choice. Several GPUs in one machine is also server territory. Coreframe workstations have no SSH and no Linux image, so for that work a GPU cloud built for AI is the better fit, and we would rather say so here.
Where a ready-to-work workstation wins.
Design work is interactive. You orbit the model, change a material and watch the render resolve, and that needs a desktop with a display driver and the application already installed, not a terminal. On a Coreframe workstation the preinstalled software is there before you connect, licensed applications such as SketchUp Pro, Revit, AutoCAD, Lumion and Enscape run on your own licence, and the files you upload stay on your project drive between sessions. Nobody on your team has to become a system administrator.
How fast you can start.
Sign up with an email address and a mobile number, top up your wallet and install the Coreframe Connect app for Windows. From then on a workstation is four clicks away and the desktop appears in about two minutes. Preparing it is free; billing starts when you connect. How to use Coreframe walks through a first session.
For design firms and teams.
Team plans give a shared monthly pool of GPU hours, a login per person and one invoice. A firm that commits around 300 or more GPU hours a month can have a workstation set aside for it. Team plans.
What a workstation costs here.
From $1.49/hr, with no GST. Billed per minute from when you connect, not per whole hour. Preparing the workstation and uploads are free. If you don't connect within 10 minutes of your workstation being ready, it shuts down and those 10 minutes are charged. If a connection fails on our side, nothing is charged. Every GPU and its price.
Questions.
Where can I rent a virtual workstation with a GPU in India?
Coreframe Cloud, a Bengaluru company, rents ready-to-work cloud virtual workstations: a full Windows desktop with a dedicated NVIDIA RTX GPU and design software installed, streamed to your own PC through the Coreframe Connect app. For accounts outside India prices start at $1.49/hr with no GST, billed per minute, and international cards are accepted. All infrastructure and data are in India.
What is a cloud virtual workstation?
A powerful computer in a data centre that you use remotely as if it were on your desk. You see and control its desktop from your own laptop, while the GPU, processor and memory doing the work sit on the remote machine. A ready-to-work one, like Coreframe's, also comes with the operating system, graphics drivers and design software already set up.
How is a ready-to-work workstation different from a GPU server?
A bare GPU server is usually a Linux machine with a GPU that you reach over SSH and set up yourself: drivers, a remote desktop if you want one, and every application. A ready-to-work workstation is already a Windows desktop with the drivers and design software installed, so you connect and open your project. Coreframe also keeps your uploaded files between sessions and bills per minute from when you connect.
Can I run SketchUp, Revit or AutoCAD on a cloud GPU workstation?
Yes. A Coreframe workstation is a standard Windows desktop, so SketchUp Pro, Revit, AutoCAD, 3ds Max, Rhino, Lumion, Enscape and V-Ray run on your own licence, signed in exactly as on a new PC. Blender, D5 Render, Twinmotion and Unreal Engine are preinstalled. Each session starts from a clean machine, so software you install is removed when it ends, unless you choose a persistent workstation (available on selected GPUs), which keeps your own Windows disk between sessions.
Is a virtual workstation good for interior designers and small design firms?
Usually, when the work is rendering or heavy 3D on laptops that cannot keep up. You keep the laptops you own, pay per minute only while someone is working, and avoid buying a workstation that sits idle between projects. Team plans add a shared monthly pool of GPU hours, a login per person and one invoice, and a firm committing around 300 or more GPU hours a month can have a workstation set aside for it. If you would keep a GPU busy most of the working week, owning one can work out cheaper.
How fast can I start?
Sign up with an email address and a mobile number, top up your wallet by card (international cards are accepted) and install the Coreframe Connect app for Windows. After that a workstation is four clicks away and its desktop appears in about two minutes. Preparing it is free; billing starts when you connect.
How is it billed?
From $1.49/hr with no GST, depending on the GPU you choose. Billed per minute from when you connect, not per whole hour. Preparing the workstation and uploads are free. If you don't connect within 10 minutes of your workstation being ready, it shuts down and those 10 minutes are charged. If a connection fails on our side, nothing is charged. You pay in US dollars from a prepaid wallet.
When is a bare GPU server the better choice?
For headless work: training or fine-tuning AI models, running inference, Docker containers, scripted batch jobs, or anything that needs root access, a custom Linux image or several GPUs in one machine. Coreframe workstations have no SSH and no Linux image, so for that work a GPU cloud built for AI is the better fit.
Open your own project on one.
The project your laptop struggles with is the best test. Open it on a Coreframe workstation and see how it behaves.
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